Blog
We are always looking at the ever-changing landscape of technology, and we see some great things on the horizon for Church, Tech and future iChurch Books. Click Here for Part 1
We are always looking at the ever-changing landscape of technology, and we see some great things on the horizon for Church, Tech and future iChurch Books. Click Here for Part 2
Continuing my interview on the state of the church and technology, I gave the following insight on my thoughts on the church and technology.
The church as a whole, I’d say maybe there are about 5% of churches that really have a good grasp of technology. They have the resources to actually utilize a lot of the new things that are going on out there, but 95% of the churches I see out here just don’t have the resources. They know what they want to do but they don’t have the resources and expertise to actually implement it. They might have a volunteer come in and do the website; someone that really has a good heart but just doesn’t have the knowhow to make it look as effective as it could be. Or they may hire somebody that doesn’t have the integrity that the people in the church have. If they don’t have that integrity then they might just basically take them for their money and not give them a high-quality website.
So, in seeing those types of situations, I started to realize what they needed was someone they could trust and someone that also has the expertise to allow them to take advantage of the technology that we have out here because it changes rapidly.
[Question: How are people receiving the ichurch method strategy] It’s being received with resounding success. I think that once the light bulb goes on and people understand and realize that the method that I’m producing and the way that I’m presenting it to them is bringing down the technological barrier and helping them actually be able to utilize technology on a level that they understand, then they realize that they can use this to actually help advance their ministry online and not be intimidated by technology.
The most difficult part about using social media is maintaining consistency. Too often an organization sets out to harness the power of social media but ultimately loses interest over time, often because they discover that it's more work than they had anticipated, or other pressing needs come up and the social media project falls through the cracks.
Consistency is vital if you want to maintain a social media presence. Just as with your website, if you don't update your sites regularly with fresh content, people will lose interest. Set a strategy for your social media project and stick to it.
How Much Time Can You Spare? Start by analyzing your staff and how much time each can devote to your social media sites. Different staff members will be suited to different sorts of social media. Some may prefer to sit down once or twice a day and post to your Facebook page, while others will enjoy posting frequent tweets through your Twitter account. Decide exactly which sites you will use, and who will handle them.
What About Content? Social media is an excellent forum to repurpose content from your web page. Think about how news media use sound bytes, and do the same. You can use short video clips from sermons, quotations, announcements, photos - anything from your website is fair game. This is a great way to entice people back to your church's website to read the whole story or watch the whole sermon.
The good news is, your staff can spend maybe an hour or less each day preparing the content they intend to post. Then they can take just a few minutes several times a day to actually post the pre-prepared material. By posting at different times during the day you reach a great many more people, as people tend to check their social media sites at different times during the day and evening.
24 Hour Posting You can also use free software from Hootsuite.com to schedule posts any time of the day or night. Hootsuite works with Facebook and Twitter, and will allow you to set up dates and times for your posts to those two social networks. You can even schedule a whole week - or month's - worth of posts ahead of time, which will save you a lot of time and energy and make sure that your message gets out, no matter what. This is a great way to reach night owls, shift workers, people in other time zones, and especially people who may be awake at odd hours due to stress or depression.
When managed properly, social media is an excellent communication tool. Take advantage of it to get your message out to the whole global community!
For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of "The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online." or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.
Continuing The iChurch Method TV series, here's the transcript from the video above.
The lines are being blurred between offline and online. If you look at something like Facebook or FourSquare, they have features where when your online friends are near you in the offline world, they’ll alert you. So, if I’m downtown and one of my Facebook friends is near me, my phone alerts me. That’s blurring the line because you’re basically saying this online friend is near you offline, and that’s where social media is going to go. It’s going to continually just become where it’s a part of your life and a utility of your life where no matter what you’re doing offline, it somehow has an impact online, and what you do offline is going to impact your life offline.
I have a mobile strategy that I explain to them and I basically lay it out to them. I say, “Now we’re going to talk about mobile here and we’re going to look at what we need to do next with mobile.” Of course the initial question is, “Should I do a mobile site or a mobile app?” I let them know first let’s do a mobile website because it’s accessible from a variety of mobile devices. That way you’re reaching all the mobile devices and then let’s talk about doing a mobile app because that’s for specific devices; if you have an app for your Apple iPhone, or your Google Android phone, or your Window’s phone. Apps are more specific but websites are more encompassing.
That type of stuff is what is going to become more common where churches are going to need apps because people just seem to connect more with a mobile app as opposed to a mobile website. Now, they’ll use a mobile website, but they’ll look forward to a more in-depth connection with that mobile app
For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of “The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online.” or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.
Continuing The iChurch Method TV series, here's the transcript from the video above where I am talking about Real Time ministry and the impact of Digital Ministry, positive and negative.
Let’s look at the positives first. What I stated before was social media; the Facebook page was one of three or four ministries that I’m aware of that has over a million fans. That’s a lot of people that you can reach via social media and minister to. We see maybe we’ll put out a daily devotional or some snippet from the sermon or something like that, you see real-time ministry. You see somebody watching a clip of a sermon or reading that daily devotional and you see them saying, “That helped me today. That transformed my life. That impacted me.” So, with those types of results you really get a chance to see ministry going on around the world in real time, and nothing can top that. That’s amazing.
Likewise, with the internet church, when we do conferences or if there are sermons going on over the weekend then we have chat modules that might be next to these online video players and we’re seeing people chatting and ministering to each other or our online ministers are ministering to them. So we see all that stuff happening in real-time.
Obviously if people are online they’re chatting more and they’re speaking more so you’re hearing more than you may hear if you’re in an actual sanctuary. They’re not worried about who’s watching and stuff like that because usually they’re in the comfort of their own home or on their mobile device or something and they’re saying how they really feel about what’s happening.
Now let’s look at the downfalls. Social media gives our pastor a voice, it gives our leadership a voice, but it gives everybody a voice. I’ve seen people who may disagree with the pastor or disagree with the ministry, disagree with the theological approach or just disagree because it’s Tuesday. Those people are able to voice their opinions and some of the things that they say—words are very powerful—and the way that they slander the ministry or slander the pastor or just slander other people who are trying to better themselves or just get ministry for themselves, you just see how hurtful it can be. It takes you back to your school days; if a child hears some encouragement, it really impacts them. If they hear discouragement, that really impacts them too. We see that in the online environment via digital media and social media especially.
For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of “The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online.” or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.
There are a few services you can use to setup your internet campus such as LifeChurch’s www.Churchonlineplatform.com, or 316 Networks http://solutions.316networks.com/ and these are some good services. But the online software that has the best user experience and is the most cost efficient has to be Plain Joe’s Media Social (www.mediasocial.tv) Internet Church Campus software. Media Social has come up with the easiest solution; if we look at the following screenshot we see how they setup their online campus software. Here are the features of Media Social’s Internet Campus Software
Here are additional features with Media Social’s Internet Campus Software. Let’s start by looking at the icons that are in the left column of the interactive module beneath the announcements/polls area.
With all these features setup for you, your organization is responsible for providing video content that you want to stream (mp4 video files) as well as a live streaming provider. In my last book, The iChurch Method Vol. 1, I talked about how to use livestream.com or Ustream.tv as a free live streaming provider and that solution could work with Media Social as well. Another feature not mentioned here that’s available in the back-end is the scheduling feature. Many ministries want to broadcast at a certain time and/or setup a schedule of shows for the day or week. This feature is available via Media Social and the internet campus can become an entire media center for the viewers with scheduled programming very similar to the traditional television experience.
I was asked about the future of Internet and Technology, here was my response (the video is above while the transcript is below):
If I had to prophesy then I would say the lines between offline and online are blurring. When you want to look five or ten years down the line, look at projects that are young in their infancy that make you think, “Wow, that’s pretty interesting.”
First aspect would be something like Google Glass where you have the glasses that are connected to the internet that you wear on your face that you can actually kind of change your perception; it’s like everything you’re looking at offline has an online component to it. That way you’re never disconnected. If you’re wearing those glasses and you’re always connected to the internet, let’s say you look at a church and automatically right there in those glasses that church website comes up or pertinent information about that church comes up as you’re looking at it or looking in that direction because it’s a virtual reality type of deal. That’s what I think we’re moving towards; virtual reality, an always connected life and pretty much existence. Secondly we’re seeing that our appliances and everything in our households—SmartHomes—are coming along. All the appliances and everything that we use in our household will be connected to the internet somehow. Wirelessly actually, because we’re seeing 4G and by then it will be 6G and whatever the years down the line, so the internet will be much faster.
Think about when you get up. While you’re brushing your teeth in the mirror, the mirror has a computer screen on it and it’s going through your tasks for the day or something like that. But, before you even look at the task you see a Daily Devotional or you see a nice message from your pastor. The church has the ability to integrate media and stay connected in people’s lives all the time. That’s the type of stuff I’m seeing. Before you reach in the refrigerator there’s a Daily Devotional on the refrigerator. You’re constantly being encouraged because you’re constantly connected to the information that’s coming from your church or your ministry. That’s the type of stuff I think will happen. When we step in the car I think the cars will drive themselves. Google already has that. So, while your car is driving you to wherever you’re going, you’re listening to a sermon. I think that’s something that will be going on.
Let’s say there’s a live service going on, a bible study or something, you’ll be able to interact with the pastor during that bible study no matter where you’re at. So, even if you’re in the car you might Tweet something or Facebook something—whatever the new social media method is—and the pastor responds to you and you’re five states away, but you’re connected to that service. There will be no difference between offline and online. There will be pretty much a virtual reality type of world.
Our kids, that will just be normal to them. They’ll be able to consume, digest, and distribute enormous amounts of information via the internet and that will just be the reality to them. I’m not sure, Google or Apple, who wins out here in this iRobot type of battle but one of them is going to win out. I love Google backwards and forwards and I think Google has a lot of great things going on.
My kids have had iPods and iPads since they were three and five, so the ease of use of those devices, they’re going to be able to connect to their churches with those devices because they’re used to them and they were so easy to pick up. They’re not going to go away from that. Kind of like when kids are three and they see McDonalds. They don’t go away from McDonalds until they learn later on how the pounds don’t come off as easily, but it pulls them in at such a young age.
Our kids and the youth of the future are going to be so technologically savvy and always connected that as long as the church is online and providing information and connectivity and a way for them to get ministry 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and not shunning technology and telling them to disconnect but to integrate that into ministry, then the church will always be accessible and it will evolve with technology.
The world is rapidly changing, and in order to keep up, and minister effectively to your congregation, you need to take advantage of the latest technology that your parishioners are using to stay connected with friends and family, do business, and take care of their personal and spiritual needs.
This can be a confusing set of circumstances to navigate, with all kinds of media sites and technology out there clamoring to be utilized, all claiming to be the best way of reaching your current and potential congregation. How do you proceed? Here is a rough, abbreviated breakdown of the technology that is available to you to help you reach and expand your congregation.
Your Website If you don't already have a website, why not? Printed phone books and encyclopedias are nearly obsolete, as the internet makes information so much more easily accessed, from finding local vendors to answering your children's homework questions. If your church does not already have a website, it should. And if it does, it should be updated frequently with fresh, informative content to keep parishioners checking back regularly to see what's new.
Multimedia - Interactive Multimedia Your church building may only hold 100, 200, or 500 members, but your virtual church can reach millions, through the power of media. Do you have a pastor who is a particularly powerful speaker, someone people wait all week to hear? Videotape the sermons and make them available online. You can post them on your website, your Facebook page, YouTube and more, to attract more members to your church, or increase your revenue by offering them for sale, via CD, DVD or audio or video download from your online store, which brings us to…
eCommerce Take donations online, sell recordings of sermons and motivational lectures, allow parishioners to purchase tickets to special events and more with an eCommerce site.
Social Media Harness the power of the most interactive technology the world has ever known by leveraging social media to get your message out to more people than your predecessors could have ever dreamed of. With the right message, or a captivating photo, video clip or other post, your church can go viral, and expand far beyond the reach of its physical walls.
Mobile Technology Almost everyone seems to have a smart phone these days, and they're always surfing the net. If they're looking for spiritual guidance, be the one to give it to them with a mobile-optimized website. What difference does it make? Imagine seeing your current website on a 2-inch square screen and you'll understand. A mobile optimized site shows your visitors what you think is important, and lets them browse through the rest of the site at their leisure.
In summary, as bewildering as it may seem at first, the newest technology that is overwhelming us with its rapidly evolving applications is a powerful tool for churches to reach out to members and potential members in a way never before possible. It's a brave new electronic world out there. Make sure you're a part of it.
For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of "The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online." or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.
(Transcript from the Video above)
What I’ve come across is that sometimes ministries are in a bubble at times where they’re use to doing things on their own and they feel like the ministry is an island, so I try and educate them and inform them on how utilizing social media can help them not just reach other members for their ministry but also interact and connect with other ministries.
So, it seems to be a wall that’s coming down, but originally it just seemed that a lot of ministries were operating on an island and just didn’t understand how well technology could help them to reach other ministries. They did get how to reach people and how to bring members into their church and stuff like that, but interacting with other ministries, that just wasn’t something that was readily known.
For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of “The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online.” or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.
Posting documents on your church website is relatively easy and doesn't cost anything, beyond the time and effort required to create them. You can create documents in any kind of software such as Microsoft Word and convert them to an Adobe PDF (Portable Document Format) file, which you can place on your server for linking to your site.
You can generate directories, brochures, committee reports, meeting minutes or any other sort of document that you might otherwise provide in printed form, and allow members to print them out directly from your site. This will save quite a lot of money in printing costs as well as creating an added convenience for your parishioners.
Some documents you might consider making available on your church website are:
• Your church newsletter. Create it in Word, convert it to PDF, and you can email it to everyone who has subscribed, and then make it available in a Newsletter Archives page on your site; • Digital magazines are similar to newsletters, but tend to focus on a broader topic rather than specific church events; • E-books can be made available for download as PDFs, either for free or for a price via your Web store. This is particularly useful if your pastor has written a book that is already available as an e-book download through Amazon or some other site; you can also sell it in PDF format directly from your site; • Information about the various missionaries your church supports. You can provide biographical information, where they are working, contact information if appropriate, and use this information to get church members to pray for them and their success; • Committee reports, meeting minutes and any other sort of formal or informal notational material regarding church committees and working groups. This ensures that everyone feels connected to the work that the church is doing, and stays informed of current plans and goals; • Important contact information, for outreach centers, crisis hotline numbers, volunteer centers and such; • Forms, such as registration, sign-up sheets, and anything else you prefer the user fill out and physically return to the church rather than filling them in online.
Documents are the easiest of all the media to post on your website, with no added expense or hosting requirements.
For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of "The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online." or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.
Continuing my insight into how The iChurch Method can help ministries, I spoke about how the actual method came into existence.
Looking at these five aspects that I had, each chapter to me was something I actually would do in a typical week at work. In a typical week I’d work on the websites, multimedia, eCommerce, social media, and mobile. So, when I’m putting this book together I’m thinking, “What is it that I do that people would need to know from the most basic level all the way up to the most technologically advanced level?”
I want to make sure that if we have a pastor who’s not as technically savvy, he can look at the book and kind of understand and have a conversation and hand it off to someone who is technically savvy. But, what if the technology savvy person picks up the book? I want to make sure that this book challenges them as well and gives them new ideas and strategies so that they can utilize them within their ministry.
Five Aspects Website — First we need a website that’s interactive and innovative. You definitely need that because that’s the door to your ministry. Most churches don’t understand that the website is one of the most effective resources that the ministry has. A lot of people will go to your website before they’ll step foot inside your sanctuary.
Multimedia — That’s online streaming, online videos, and podcasting. When we look at the popularity of YouTube we see that video is the fastest growing form of content on the internet. We look as mobile as well; people are just consuming video via mobile just at alarming rates. So, you have to have a multimedia strategy.
eCommerce — eCommerce is your online donations and your online stores. Well, of course online donations make it easy for people to support the ministry financially from wherever they’re at. They don’t have to come into the sanctuary and do the typical old traditional way of putting tithes in the bucket or something like that. They can donate online and from their mobile device.
Social media — We know social media just transformed the way we use the internet. Everything is social now. Facebook has over a billion users that are signed up for it, and Twitter is continuously growing. So, social media has just transformed the way we use the internet and it gives ministries a way to reach people that may not ever step foot inside their building.
Mobile — There are over a billion mobile devices around the world. People carry around mobile devices everywhere they go, so that gives you an actual way to take ministry to the people. When your ministry is accessible via mobile device you now are accessible to this person wherever they’re at; 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
http://youtu.be/Stpi_4aXcPI
In this book we’re just basically building upon The iChurch Method Volume One. We’re taking every chapter to another level.
This book talks about how to take your website to another level, how to develop a good content strategy, how to utilize more up-to-date and current technological tools to build your website.
With multimedia we're looking at taking that to the next level, the whole entire internet church campus. Let's bring all the online video and the streaming into one coherent campus so that people can come interact with your ministry online.
With eCommerce we're looking at how you make more effective, more secure, and more streamlined online donation modules. How do you have a better and more effective online store.
With social media we're looking at the advancements and the rise of visual social media and how to utilize that with Facebook timeline, Pinterest, and Instagram. Social media is going entirely visual so we want to make sure that we address that.
Then we're looking mobile. In the last book we talked about mobile websites, it's time to talk about mobile apps and how to utilize those and tablets and all these new mobile devices that are coming down the line.
So, in this book we just want to help ministries take their ministry to another level online and continue to stay ahead of the technology trend.
The iChurch Method is simple: a method to help ministries have a global presence online. To provide digital solutions that help ministries connect to people everyday around the world. It’s a five part approach to taking your ministry online and reaching the world:
Part 1: Website – A Great Website that is Easy-to-Use. Part 2: Multimedia – Interactive Multimedia, online video and online streaming Part 3: Ecommerce – Online Stores/Online Donations. Part 4: Social Media – Engage and Connect with Facebook and Twitter Part 5: Mobile – The Future of Technology and Ministry with mobile websites and mobile apps.
With these five parts, a ministry can reach and change the world. The iChurch Method book is a MUST READ for every ministry leader who desires to have a global presence online. Caston Digital and CEO Jason Caston, created this method to help all ministries establish a global presence and utilize technology to the fullest, without having to worry about huge financial investments and hiring numerous technical specialists. As explained in the book, this method is as advanced enough for a technical expert to understand, but simple enough for a non-technical church leader to understand.
Order The iChurch Method Book today!!
Contact Us for a No Obligation Quote Today
As we gear up for 2013, we here at The iChurch Method look forward to some great advancements, new book releases and some innovative ways to help you advance your churches online. We just wanted to give you a preview of some of the things coming in 2013.
Developing and launching an internet church campus at T.D. Jakes Ministries. We are currently working on a full internet church campus for The Potter’s House of Dallas and T.D. Jakes Ministries, this will be a major feat and we are looking at having at least 10,000 people to start.
This looks like it will be a great year, can’t wait!
As 2012 comes to an end, we here at The iChurch Method would like to thank you for all your support. It’s been a banner inaugural year. It’s awe inspiring to think that at this time last year, The iChurch Method was just a small blog that was waiting to be launched into the public with the release of the flagship book, The iChurch Method Vol 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online. With that being stated, let’s look at some of the key accomplishments in 2012.
The focus of The iChurch Method was to educate and inform churches how to better use technology and advance their ministry online. What I didn’t foresee was the academic environments that The iChurch Method could be utilized in. I didn’t foresee Christian Universities using The iChurch Method in their curriculums to help educate their students on how technology can be (and is being) used in ministry.
Here are two great universities that have utilized The iChurch in their curriculums.
Biola University - Digital Ministry Seminar Summer Course - Prof. David T Bourgeois
Abilene Christian University - Christian Ministry in Digital Culture - Dr. John Weaver
The benefits of introducing students to The iChurch Method in college as well as how real life churches are using technology is that we are able prepare students to help advance ministries technologically as soon as they come out of school, instead of them going to corporate america and then eventually coming to work for the church. This would give churches access to more individuals with technical skills that are ready to help advance the kingdom online.
Here it is, the Highly Anticipated next edition in The iChurch Method series. The iChurch Method 2: Changing the World When You Login. Pre-Order Yours Today
Volume 2 in the amazing iChurch Method series, the purpose of this book is to continue to help ministries and businesses advance online. Continuing with the five part approach to taking your ministry/business online and reaching the world:
Part 1: Website – Interactive websites Part 2: Multimedia – Internet Church Campus Part 3: Ecommerce – Online Stores/Online Donations - Part II Part 4: Social Media – The Rise of Visual Social Media Part 5: Mobile – Mobile Websites and Apps
With these five parts, a ministry can reach and change the world. The iChurch Method is a MUST READ for every ministry leader who desires to have a global presence online.
Your Pre-Ordered Book will arrive by May 1, 2013 and your Ebook will be available via download by May 1, 2013. Pre-Order Yours Today
I am currently working on some new advancements for The iChurch Method such as the Online Learning Network and Volume 2 of the book. In the midst of this a guy doing some work for me asked me where did I get the concept for the book. As I got to thinking, I decided to do a quick video about it but here are the highlights.
1. I originally came up with the concept while working at Crenshaw Christian Center in 2007. I was hired to be a webmaster but I saw that I had to revamp their entire online presence. Thus I developed a new website, a new online store and integrated multimedia. (Chapters 1 - 3 in the book).
2. In 2009 I setup Social Media at EIF Ministries (the international ministry of CCC) and came up with the initial parts of the Social Media strategy that I use today. I also laid out the road map to integrating internet church, mobile websites and apps into their online ministry.
3. In 2010 when I relocated to Dallas, I was recruited by T.D. Jakes Ministries and I had to show them that I knew what I was talking about so I came up with five areas that I could help them and explain my past successes, these five areas were websites, multimedia, ecommerce, social media and mobile. Yep, the same five chapters I have in The iChurch Method book.
And the rest they say..is history.
After high school, the average person reads about 1 book per year, educated people read between 4 - 8 books per year and experts read around a book per month. Now I used to read a book every two months but now I have changed up my approach since the information I need has to be more current and readily available. Now I read blogs and ebooks, usually an ebook every month or two and I read blogs daily. Google Reader is how I am able to keep up with so much information and changing trends in technology. Ranging from online business to technology to digital ministry and everything in between, Google Reader is how I keep up and read any and everything.
Google Reader is an online software that takes RSS Feeds and lets you categorize them for reading. These RSS feeds come from websites and blogs that distribute them for people to subscribe to and receive notifications when they update their sites or post new content. Therefore, when I subscribe to a site like Techcrunch.com, every time they post a new article, my Google Reader is updated and I am able to read it immediately. Everyday, I receive around 1000 or so blog updates and I take an hour or two to read through many of them and stay current on all the latest and greatest in technology, digital ministry and online business.
Here is a screenshot of my Google Reader.
To setup your Google Reader go to Google.com/reader and login with you gmail account. If you don’t have a gmail account then create one.
Once it’s setup, you can add blogs or news readers to your site by clicking the "Add Subscription" button on the left-hand side of the screen. This will open a dialog box where you can input either search terms or the actual web address of sites you want to include in your RSS reader. Or you can click on the RSS icon 
on a website and if you are logged into your Google Reader, it will automatically be added.
Enjoy and stay educated and updated via Google Reader.
